


Shedding the Green

by Malfoyv



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Battle of Hogwarts, Canon Divergence - Battle of Hogwarts, Canon-Typical Violence, Good Slytherins, Slytherin, Slytherins Being Slytherins
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-21
Updated: 2018-04-21
Packaged: 2019-04-25 19:36:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14385684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Malfoyv/pseuds/Malfoyv
Summary: "I won’t lie to you, I have no idea the extent of things upstairs. I’m sure we can hazard a guess it's pretty grim. But we will not sit helplessly in a filthy damp cave like rats."After being locked in the dungeons and forced to listen to the battle overheard,  Blaise decides it's time for House Slytherin to make a stand.





	Shedding the Green

**Author's Note:**

> I'm aware Slytherins were locked up in the dungeons in the film and in the book everyone was evacuated; "The Slytherin table was completely deserted."  
> Slytherins are insanely misrepresented and I find it hard to believe that no one stayed behind to fight. So this is my take on the battle of Hogwarts.  
> ______
> 
> A huge thank you to my friend and beta; SnufflesMajor, without you I'd be stuck in the pits of hell with tense issues. Ily

The silence was deafening against the cold walls of the dungeon. The young first years stared in horror at the rust beaten shackles that decorated the ancient walls; Filch wasn't kidding when he talked about hanging people from their feet. Everyone seemed to be huddled into small groups on the outskirts of the room, either hugging tightly to one another or staring into nothingness. What was left of the old wall candles were fighting to stay alight whilst some students had cast a faint lumos to stop the darkness creeping in. 

Pansy let out a stiff exhale and Blaise took in the grim scene before him. They had been stuck down there for maybe an hour or two and nobody had moved. The young ones swallowed back tears, some of the older students looked bleak; shaking from the cold or the thought of war, maybe both. 

Furrowing his brow, he stood. The motion alone startled half the room, the others being nudged gently or were too lost in their thoughts to notice anything. He cleared his throat gently, "Well I think we've given them enough of a head start." 

"What on earth are you prattling on about?" Pansy snapped, sitting by his feet.

"We're not dying here. This has gone on long enough,” Blaise took a shallow breath before addressing the room, "I won’t lie to you, I have no idea the extent of things upstairs. I’m sure we can hazard a guess it's pretty grim. But we will not sit helplessly in a filthy damp cave like rats."

A loud crack shot through the room; the shackles vibrated and a heavy coating of dust fell from the ceiling. A few loud shrieks echoed through the walls and everyone huddle a little closer together. Some looked at Blaise like he was mad, others couldn't hold back their tears anymore. "There is a war going on, and I want to fight."

“And how do you suppose we do that when the entirety of Hogwarts threw us down here?" A sixth year called out—Hunter, his parents were family friends of Zabini. 

"After what we did during Dark Arts class they don't want our help!" cried another voice from the dark.

"We're snakes, are we not? We shed the green." Blaise words hung in the air, a low distant rumbling interrupting the silence, "Without our robes we won't be so recognisable. We are not who we were forced to be. Besides they need all the help they can get up there and our oldest families have been training us to duel since we were 6 years old. This is not just for Hogwarts, it's for us, it's for Slytherin."

Pansy winced as she remembered all the times she and Blaise had volunteered to demonstrate unforgivables, to save the youngest from living that nightmare. There was no doubt some of her classmates had found a disturbing joy in taking part, but for weeks she had watched the Carrows snuff the flicker of life out of the eyes of her classmates. At one point she genuinely hadn’t been able to tell if Draco had been under the imperius curse or not. She quickly pushed that thought aside; monsters or not, they did what had needed to be done.

"My father’s out there, on the other side..." sobbed a fourth year. Her friends held her close, wiping her tears with their sleeves.

Blaise looked away for a moment, clenching his jaw trying steady his breathing, and quietened his voice, "I understand those of you who don’t wish to fight. Family is your own business, and no one here will judge your actions." He turned back to the group as another loud clatter erupted. People ducked as more dust fell. "But we cannot sit here waiting for our death. The castle wards aren't holding. We know this part of the castle better than anyone else, and there's enough of us to blast that door off its hinges."

Still standing alone, Blaise untied his tie and slipped it from around his neck. He dropped it to the floor along with his robe, unsettling the dust beneath it. Pansy joined him and through her hard demeanour, Blaise could see the worry in her eyes as she shrugged off her house robe and let her tie fall on top of his. "Well if we're doing this, we better bloody well get on with it." As she flicked the dust from her hair and folded her arms, she jabbed Adrian with her shoe to get him to stand. She watched a few students in the far corner gingerly rise and take their robes off.

A large group of sixth years nodded to each other before standing, "I don’t know about you but I've been dying to hex my uncle for years," one smirked to his friends who let out low chuckles around him. It set off a chain reaction as the other Slytherins began to follow. All of them were tossing their uniforms into a pile, hope spreading across the room to fill the low murmur of their voices.

"Theo, Pansy, Goyle, Adrian—you'll join me in the front. The rest of you spread yourselves evenly on each side, wands at the ready."

The plan was to get the youngest students out of the castle along with anyone who didn't wish to fight. A small group of of-age students would go first to keep a path clear from the dungeons to the first floor. The remaining students were to split into smaller groups with at least 2 people ready to fight, and navigate their way through the battle. Blaise knew all too well that it would be foolish to think a plan would be that simple, but war wasn't simple. He kept that thought to himself. 

"W-wait, but what if the blast collapses the dungeon?" Goyle visibly shrunk as the words left his lips. 

"Don’t you pull a Granger on us now," Pansy spat.

"We'll reinforce the walls with runes," Blaise stared down at Pansy with a look of something fierce before turning to rest of the students, "Any fifth years who know protection and strength runes etch them along these two walls." 

Blaise directed a small handful of students until the walls were as secure as they were going to get. The Slytherins formed an v-like shape in front of the heavy iron door that loomed in front of them, Goyle did his best to not pay attention to the scratch marks and small craters that decorated the door. With Theo and Adrian on either side, Blaise spoke to them in a hushed whisper,  
"Once our spells hit, both of you cast a protego. We protect as many as we can." They both nodded and took their positions. He spun on his heels to see his housemates once full of fear now mixed with some flecks of courage. He was hoping they could cling onto that when they faced the unknown beyond the dungeon.

"We aim towards the middle, with enough force it shouldn't put up much of a fight. On the count of three.."

He turned back to face the door, the grip on his wand tightening with the countdown. A bright flash hit the door, the chorus of shouts deafened by the sound of crushing metal and rocks. When the ringing subsided so did the blue glow which had blinded him, and the room let out a breath as a warm breeze swept through the jagged hole in the wall. The door fragments lay across the floor, scattered amongst chunks of rock and debris. Some students had lost their footing, but the worst damage was only a few cuts here and there to those closest to the blast.

Both Theo and Adrian let out a small cheer before the entire room broke into smiles. Blaise held up a hand and the room fell silent as he walked toward the blasted entryway. Carefully making his way through the rubble, he stood in the hallway for the longest minute of his life, checking for any sign of noise or activity before giving the all clear to his fellow Slytherins. Quickly they broke off into their groups and gathered along the shadows of the walls staying out of sight of the entrance.

Blaise ushered the group leaving first to join him. Theo and Goyle lead a small team of fifth and sixth years over the rubble.

"Oi! What happens if shit goes south out there?" Pansy called from behind a large chunk of rock.

"Well what would a Gryffindor do?" Theo jabbed back.

"Make everything bloody worse!"

"Right then, just pretend to do that."

If looks could kill, Theo would fall where he stood. He smirked as Pansy rolled her eyes and sneered. He wondered if they'd still be able to joke like that once it was all over.  
"Remind me again why we're leaving her in charge of the evacuation party?" He asked, following Blaise down the corridor.

"Because she's skittish. Any sign of trouble and she'll run, and that's exactly what they’ll all need to do. I've got people watching her."


End file.
